EVIL WORDS HURT!

KEEPING AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE IN THE MIDST OF ATTACK

Psalm 64:1-6

64:1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

                        preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

            2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

                        from the throng of evildoers,

            3 who whet their tongues like swords,

                        who aim bitter words like arrows,

            4 shooting from ambush at the blameless,

                        shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

            5 They hold fast to their evil purpose;

                        they talk of laying snares secretly,

                        thinking, “Who can see them?”

            6 They search out injustice,

                        saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”

                        For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

Does God know what is happening to me? Does He know how wicked the people around me are? Does He know how much it hurts? Is He going to do anything about it?

If you have ever had these kinds of thoughts as you have gone through difficulties, then this psalm will be a great encouragement. Words hurt! When people use them to produce pain in us, they certainly can cause us to become very discouraged.

Here, David talks about his dread of his enemies, expressing his extreme fear. In fact, he is terrorized by what his adversaries are planning in secret. Their cutting words are being spread around with evil purposes in mind.

The psalmist compares them to an ambush. He is surprised by their words, for they have come in moments he did not expect and possibly from people he never thought would betray him. These enemies continue in their evil endeavor and think that they will get away with them.

Possibly, as we rehearse this psalm, we can think of times when this has been true in our own lives. And maybe some are experiencing the pain of something similar right now. Questions are flooding your thoughts. When will it end? Why are they doing this? How far is it going to go?  Does God care?  Will they get away with it? How can I defend myself? Am I going to lose my reputation and maybe my assets?

In all the wicked are doing, they are unaware that God is watching. David does not want his readers to lose sight of the fact that God is aware and will intervene in due time.

Psalm 64:7-9

            7 But God shoots his arrow at them;

                        they are wounded suddenly.

            8 They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them;

                        all who see them will wag their heads.

            9 Then all mankind fears;

                        they tell what God has brought about

                        and ponder what he has done.

David is sure that God will intervene; and He will do it when the enemies do not expect it. They will feel the pain of God’s judgment. The words they used will be their own demise.

As we read this, it is very possible that we hope this will happen soon. But before you and I expectantly wait for that moment of “revenge”, I want us to notice why God will intervene. God’s purposes are to show His justice, to cause men to fear Him. God’s ultimate goal is not to make our lives more comfortable, or in some way put our unjust suffering on display. God has eternal purposes that go far beyond our hope for reprieve.

I know that when I am going through times similar to these, I tend to concentrate just on myself and thus lose an eternal perspective.

Dear friend, when we go through situations like these, and are tempted to think that we need to go and fix every situation, we easily become prisoners of our bitterness and desire for revenge.

These are the ways we need to ask God to help us when we must navigate through the results of the wicked words of others:

1 – Help me not to lose sight of the fact that You are both aware and in control.

2 – Help me not to be terrorized by the events.

3 – Help me not to be driven by fears and bitterness.

4 – Help me to desire the eternal and not the temporal.

5 – Help me never to be a person who speaks wickedly of others.

Psalm 64:10

            10 Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD

                        and take refuge in him!

            Let all the upright in heart exult!

It is the LORD Who is our point of reference. Above all, Jesus experienced the reality of evil words spoken against Him, and every time they were untrue and undeserved. Men spoke evil of Him, they attributed His works to the devil. They schemed to kill Him, and even succeeded for a brief time. We know that God had eternal purposes in mind; in fact, we have hope because of what Christ suffered and did for us.

May we take refuge in Him! May our eyes be on Him and not on ourselves! May our praise for Him be sincere!